Metroid Aurora
by Troid
Summary: A story following Samus Aran's struggle against an attempted bounty hunter extermination and the plot following it. Set after Super Metroid except for the prologue. Currently undergoing much-needed rewrites; SUSPENDED.
1. Part One

Title: _Metroid Aurora  
_Author: _Troid  
_Description: A story first following chronologically the game series, then developing into a completely original story after the _Super Metroid_ time period. Stars Samus, of course, and revolves around her struggle against an attempted bounty hunter extermination by an unexpected enemy.  
Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-fi  
Rating: [ T ] for some language and violence

A/N: Ongoing! Part One (which is apparently a prologue of sorts) is complete, as is Part Two (which is way longer and entirely me-generated). Part Three (which is even _longer_ and still wholly original) is in progress. **Review** and help me improve!

Soooo, the basic purpose of this fic has changed. The plot is now centered on the original story set during the _Other M_ time period. I like this much better than the original idea (dramtaized scenes from the games only) I started out with.

Also, the section from Hunters is now between Prime and Echoes, where it should be. If you are hoping for more scenes from the games, there will be a great many flashbacks to satisfy you (well, except if you're expecting Ridley. Please read the A/N at the end of Part Three once it's up for my reasons why).

* * *

Samus sat bolt upright in her ship's command chair. She was drenched in a cold sweat and her chest heaved as if she had just run for an hour. She put a hand to her throat. The feeling of that icy fang would not fade.

After a minute, Samus regained her composure. Taking steadying breaths, she tapped a button on a nearby console.

"_Currently orbiting Planet Zebes_," reported the voice of the ship's computer. "_Preparations for landing complete_. _Current speed…_"

Samus quickly typed a complicated sequence into the computer, then placed her hand on a flat panel. The panel analyzed her DNA and fingerprints while simultaneously building a biodiagnostic report. When the sensors finished their analysis, Samus's Power Suit activated itself. A matrix of glowing lines spread around her, solidifying into an armorsuit and arm cannon. Finally, a helmet appeared. It sealed to the neck of the suit with a hiss.

Samus keyed in a command for the landing sequence. The gunship floated silently through space as a booster kicked in. Samus descended once again towards her home…

* * * *

Samus now stood before the elevator to Tourain. Fear pricked at her mental armor like steel fingers. But her resolve stayed strong, and Samus stepped onto the lift. As the platform descended, Samus felt a shift in the atmosphere. She could feel a _presence_, and the presence was a threat. The Metroids were no longer just things of her nightmares; they were tangible, dangerous, and close.

Samus closed her eyes as the elevator neared its destination. A series of disjointed images flashed through her head.

_She was being carried out of a burning, collapsing building. The streets glowed with the light of the flames._

_A horde of creatures with scales and claws were pursuing them, growling and shrieking. Some stayed behind to fight them and buy time, knowing full well it meant the end of their own lives._

_She was hiding in a shelter at the center of the city—alone, now. She was the only one who had made it to the town's sanctuary. The entire world was ablaze. Everyone else was dead._

_They came in even though the doors were closed and locked. They floated around, and she was scared. Their fangs glistened as they drew nearer. The scaly creatures roared outside, and still the floating nightmares approached._

_A hand was offered to her—not a human hand, but not a scaled hand, either. She looked up, and beheld the face of her rescuer._

Samus opened her eyes as the elevator stopped, settling into place. She kept only the last image in her mind: the smiling Chozo elder. And then out of the darkness came a Metroid, flying straight at her, letting out its blood-chilling shriek. But Samus was not afraid. She raised her weapon and fired.

* * * *

Samus stared in pure shock at the wall of engravings before her. She felt like a child once again, holding the hand of the Elder and gazing up at the tableau. A Chozo warrior dominated the scene, resplendent in battle armor and holding a large orb between his hands. More depictions of Chozo history, legends, and religion surrounded it, stretching from the dawn of time to the fall of the civilization.

And at the very bottom was a much less refined, smaller carving: a smiling girl and her two Chozo companions, playing under the sun.

Suddenly the outline of the warrior lit up, glowing bright blue. The disc it held became like a mirror, reflecting Samus's image. Then, a beam of light flashed outward and washed over Samus. As the beam shone, Samus felt a curious sensation. Starting at the soles of her feet, a flush of heat and a peculiar tingling rose up her body as a ring of light encircled her. She felt butterflies in her stomach as it passed her midriff and when it reached her head a wave of dizziness swept over her.

A new Chozo armorsuit began to build itself around her: the Legendary Power Suit.

* * * *

Samus dodged Metroid Prime's final lunge, and hit it point-blank in the cranium with a charged burst of Phazon. The creature shrieked horribly and recoiled. As it drew its tentacle back past Samus, it caught her around the ankle. Samus shot at it, but the Metroid kept its grip.

A second tentacle lanced forward and struck Samus in the chest, burying itself partway into the Phazon Suit. Samus fought it, but with a tremendous pull Metroid Prime ripped the suit away, leaving Samus far less protected in her Gravity Suit.

With the last of her fading Phazon energy, Samus loosed a beam that pierced straight through Metroid Prime.

An incredibly harsh screech issued from the mortally wounded creature. It curled in on itself, its tentacles jerking spasmodically. Then, in a final explosion of blue and red light, Metroid Prime vanished.

* * * *

Samus sidestepped the Hunter Sylux as he tried to tackle her and knocked him down. She pointed her arm cannon at his head as he rose to kneel, indicating he should surrender. But Sylux swept her legs out from under her and was firing before she could recover. The shots were deflected by her suit, but she saw the energy readouts began to fall. Swiftly, she sprung back up and fired her Grapple Beam at Sylux's Shock Coil. The stream of energy encircled and Sylux's arm and fried the weapon's circuits.

Sylux leapt backwards, away from Samus, as his weapon sparked and died. The two stood frozen for a moment, Samus steadily aiming again at Sylux. Suddenly, Sylux's gunship, the _Delano 7_, came screaming in from the sky. Its automatic turret opened fire on Samus, forcing her to spin out of the way as Sylux jumped up to the ship's entry ramp. The turret continued to fire as the ship ascended, keeping Samus at bay while Sylux escaped to the cold space of the Alimbic Cluster.

* * * *

_What…am I?_

A hand shot up through the pool of Phazon. A single eye on the back of the hand looked around shakily.

_I am…_

Samus's Phazon Suit climbed out of the pit it has spent the last several months in. It moved itself experimentally, testing its abilities.

_I am _her_ armor suit_.

Metroid Prime was inside the suit, what was left of the creature's body combined with Samus's own DNA to fit her new home.

_I am…Dark Samus_.

* * * *

With an inarticulate roar of rage, Dark Samus rushed again at Samus. She swung her arm wildly, but Samus easily ducked under the blow and rammed Samus with her arm cannon. Flipping over backwards, Dark Samus just barely managed to regain her balance. She felt her already unstable strength fading even further. _No! I won't lose! I will not!_

She blinked. Samus was already standing in front of in front of her, weapon charged and raised. She fired, and Dark Samus was knocked across the chamber by the shot. She landed painfully and skidded into the wall.

Dark Samus's head drooped. Her limbs would not obey her, and her very body felt like it was about to fall apart. _No…_ She struggled to her feet and began limping towards Samus.

"I hate…you…"

Samus only stood there as Dark Samus approached, bent over forwards and barely breathing.

"I…will…kill you…"

Dark Samus stopped a meter away from Samus, unable to take one more step. She raised her hand, the suit turned transparent to reveal the bone underneath. No flesh…only bone. She stretched her hand towards Samus. _One touch…I can absorb that suit…I won't…_

Dark Samus collapsed.

* * * *

_Why?_

Dark Samus floated noiselessly through the reaches of space, nothing more than scattered particles like bits of soul.

_Why can't I defeat her? Kill her?_

She was still alive, just barely. She had no body.

_I'm missing something…I am not complete_.

A few of the bits began to clump together.

_I know_._ I know what it is_.

More and more shards of blue coalesced, and in a sudden pulse Dark Samus was there once more.

* * * *

Dark Samus dodged the hail of Phazon shrapnel Samus had fired and lobbed crackling blue energy spheres at her foe.

"Hah!" Samus swung her Grapple Voltage and detonated the orbs before they reached her. Through the explosions of light came Dark Samus. She lunged and grabbed Samus by the throat. Samus struggled to escape her nemesis's crushing grip as Dark Samus held her aloft. He helmet's air supply was being cut off. Dark Samus brutally smashed her arm cannon into the side of Samus's head and flung her aside.

"You destroyed the Aurora Unit," spat Dark Samus, advancing, "but you won't kill me."

"Don't be so sure," said Samus, and shot her from the ground.

The beam glanced harmlessly off the dark one's armor. "Your death nears, _Samus_." Dark Samus kicked Samus, sending her flying in one direction while her helmet shot off in another. Samus ended up with her back to a wall.

Dark Samus lunged at her head, but Samus flung herself aside at the last instant. Dark Samus's hand embedded itself in the crystalline wall. Samus shot Dark Samus repeatedly as she tried to free herself. The barrage began to damage Dark Samus's armor.

"_No!_" With a great shout, Dark Samus pulled her hand free, using the momentum to spin and backhand Samus. The blow hit Samus's exposed face, and she recoiled. Dark Samus aimed a spread of Phazon at her, but Samus recovered just in time to dodge with the Morph Ball.

Leaping forward, Dark Samus caught her as she returned to biped form. With one final smash, she crippled Samus's arm cannon. She raised her own. Samus stiffened as the point touched the underside of her chin.

Suddenly, Dark Samus dropped to her knees, coughing violently. She released Samus, who stumbled backward and assumed a wary stance. Dark Samus tried to rise, but fell back, still coughing. _No…this body…_ Her armor began to glow brilliantly blue. Then, in a cascade of light, it vanished.

Half of Dark Samus's body was that of Samus herself, and half was a twisted network of insubstantial blue nerves. Dark Samus's split face had one blue, human eye and another that was yellow, multifaceted, glowing. She took her hand away from her mouth and found it covered in dark red blood.

_I'm going to die_.

The ghost of Metroid Prime somehow made it to her feet. She walked forward as if in a trance. _I can't kill her_.

She stopped in front of Samus, noting the similarity to their last battle. _I'm finished_._ She's won_.

Then, the right half of her mouth twisted into something like a smile. "If I can't make you a part of me…"

She lunged at Samus, even as she faded into a swirl of blue. The mass of blue light that was Dark Samus rushed forward and vanished inside Samus's body.

* * * *

Samus kept her beam cannon raised, making sure there no more Metroids in the room. Satisfied, she made for the tunnel into the next cavern.

"You won't like what's at the end."

Samus considered ignoring the voice. But the voice wasn't the first sign of madness, it was _her_, and there wasn't much point in ignoring someone living in your head. So, in her mind she said "What? No, wait, let me guess—_more_ Metroids?"

"And a special surprise." Samus rolled her eyes and continued on her way. As she entered the next cavern, a clawed monster dropped from the ceiling, roaring.

_Zeta Metroid_. _No problem_. Samus easily sidestepped the Metroid's strike and blew its head off.

"Ouch," commented Dark Samus.

Samus broke into a run, dashing under Omega Metroids as they descended. She reached the blocked cave exit and spun, dropping three enemies in one hail of beam fire. One of the remaining Metroids reared up and returned fire with a glob of energy. Samus dodged the projectile, and, a second later, a Missile found its mark on the Metroid's head.

"Not the _head_," Dark Samus hissed. "Aim for the gut, you stupid human."

"What, doesn't human apply to you?"

"Not yet."

Samus took the advice and finished off the last creature by shooting it four times in the gut in rapid succession. "_Yet?_" Dark Samus only laughed. Blasting apart the rock pile, Samus strode into the biggest grotto yet. At the very back, there was a dark, indistinct shape.

"Surprise," said Dark Samus.

Before she could fire, faster than she could believe, the shape was directly in front of her. It was the most grotesque-looking monster of the bunch; all eyes, suckers, and talons: the Queen Metroid. Samus's incredible reflexes saved her. She just managed to move away before the Queen obliterated the space before it with a massive smash of a claw. As it was, the swipe still caught Samus, tearing a jagged gash in her suit and giving her a long, shallow cut. Samus backed away, peppering the Queen with weapons fire, but nothing had any effect.

The Queen Metroid spat a large energy laser at Samus, and she was hurled across the cave. She got to her feet in time to be knocked flying again as the Metroid extended its long neck and struck her. She crashed heavily to the ground. Warning lights blazed at the corners of her vision. Energy Low. Life-signs Critical. Danger.

"Looks like you're going to die," Dark Samus observed dispassionately.

"No…" Samus began charging her cannon well beyond its safe limit as the creature shrieked at her. "I'm not!"

A golden ring at the front of the arm cannon focused the charged energy into the massive Zero Laser. The beam tore through the cavern, crashing into the Queen as it made to rush at Samus. With a grating screech, the Metroid was lifted off its feet and borne aloft to the wall behind, where it embedded itself as the intense power washed over it.

Samus cut off the beam before it could collapse the cave. She watched with one eye as her suit's energy reading dropped straight to zero. In a flash, the suit fell apart and dropped from Samus's frame. Underneath, she wore a skintight, blue bodysuit that offered minimal protection.

Dark Samus's tone was flat. "You killed it." A moment later, a racking pain shot through Samus's body. She dropped to her knees, holding herself tightly. She heard Dark Samus's voice escalate to a roar.

"_Die! Die! Just DIE!_"

Samus fought the onslaught with all her remaining strength. She felt her limbs shudder as Dark Samus assaulted her battered frame from within. Sweat cascaded down her face. She was dizzy and nauseous. It was all she could do to keep from screaming aloud.

"_No! You won't survive this time! I'LL KILL YOU!_"

Samus pitched sideways and lay still.

* * * *

Samus awoke to a wet tickling. She cracked her eyelids open, and, once her vision focused, saw a small Metroid poking her with an immature fang. She instinctively raised her right arm and pointed her hand at the Metroid. She remembered a second later that she no longer had her arm cannon. The Metroid happily glommed on to her hand.

Samus stood up, lowering her arm, and the little Metroid began flying happy circles around her head, chittering rapidly. It completed several orbits of Samus's head, then rubbed itself affectionately against her cheek.

Samus was amazed. Not only was this Metroid _not_ trying to kill her and suck her dry, but it was actually being _playful_. Samus noted Dark Samus wasn't bothering to speak.

The infant Metroid chirped in Samus's ear. The message was clear: _Mama_.

* * * *

"Why can't I kill you?"

Samus blinked surprisedly. It was an odd thing to be asked, especially in one's own head. It was the first time in weeks Dark Samus had spoken. "You defeated me four times, and for some reason I couldn't kill you on SR388."

"I don't know," sighed Samus. "Wouldn't _you_ die, too?"

Dark Samus was bitter. "That doesn't matter.."

Samus considered for a moment. "I really thought I was going to die on SR388. I think you _could_ have killed me."

There was a pause. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I don't think you really wanted to."

Dark Samus was silent for a while. Finally, she said flatly "Don't be ridiculous. Keep talking nonsense like that I'll have to try and kill you again."

* * * *

Mother Brain rose up from the ground. It stood on two legs, and had a gaping mouth and sharp claws. The mechanical life-form bellowed at Samus.

Samus's eyes widened. "What—" She was struck by Mother Brain's powerful energy beam before she could get any more words out. Her suit energy plummeted as the beam held her in midair against the wall. Then the Metroid hatchling flew into the room. It zoomed forward and clamped its fangs onto Mother Brain. After a minute of glutting itself on the bio-machine's life energy, the Metroid flew back to Samus. She froze for a second as it hovered over her head.

From the Metroid came a stream of light. As it washed over Samus, she felt her aching limbs be soothed and her heartbeat settle. The Metroid had healed her. Then, Mother Brain recovered. It stood again and shot the Metroid with a beam that pierced straight through it.

"No!" screamed Samus. She watched, aghast, as the energy overloaded the Metroid's body. Slowly it drifted down and collapsed.

Grimly, Samus stood and pointed her arm cannon at Mother Brain. She felt the power from the Metroid infusing her.

"Kill it," said Dark Samus coldly. And Samus did.

* * *

A/N: This is the end of Part One. Part Two begins the entirely me-generated story. I utilize some of the hints we've received as to _Other M_'s plotline, as well as the likenesses of two characters, but the story really is my own invention. And, fortunately for me, these characters don't have personalities yet, letting me create them from my own imagination! Writing them has been a great experience, and as I said in another story's notes; if the official version of the character differs from mine, that means _they_ did it wrong, because I got there first!

Even if the disjointedness of this segment has been off-putting, please continue reading. Excepting flashbacks, the remainder of the story follows a much more definite plotline and does not skip around in time.


	2. Part Two

A/N: I hope you don't hate me for having so little of Part Two finished. I do have a pretty good idea where the story is going, so updates should be along shortly. R/R what's up now, at any rate! * And the updates begin to trickle in. Be patient with me; next time I update there should be a little more to add then was added this time. Please review! * Okay, here's a nice big chunk of update for you and then I will go on infinite hiatus forever. Just kidding. * Not so infinite after all. Update time! Also, what does it take to get a review around here? I'll give you cookies. A Chozo suit? An arm cannon? Come on, just review! * I hope you enjoyed the chase scene…or scenes. I've finally got some time off from classes coming up, so that will either mean I will write a lot or I won't write at all. Sorry in advance if it's the latter, and see you next update! And oh, yeah…**review!**

* * *

"_Incoming Federation transmission_," announced the gunship's computer.

A voice crackled to life over the link. "Samus, this is Admiral Singer of the G.F.S. _Shadow_."

Samus waited until Singer continued. "There's been a problem with the latest contract. We need you to dock with the _Shadow_ so we can straighten things out."

"Tell him to get lost," said Dark Samus. But Samus typed an affirmative message, rolling her eyes.

* * *

Two Federation Marines escorted her to a meeting room. They left her there to wait. Fifteen minutes later, she was still waiting. "What is taking them so long?!" exclaimed Dark Samus. "Do they think—"

She was interrupted as an emergency monitor mounted on one of the walls flickered on. Onscreen was Adam Malkovich, Samus's one-time commander. "Samus!" he said urgently. "Get out of there now! They're coming for y—" The display flickered and died. Samus spun towards the door, raising her arm cannon.

A split second later, the door was blown from its frame. In the corridor stood a platoon of Federation troopers. Samus rolled sideways as the trooper in the doorway opened fire with a plasma rifle. The squad advanced, weapons pointed at her heart.

The one with the rifle spoke. "Samus Aran," he said in a harshly computer-modulated voice. "You are under arrest." He cocked the rifle. "Will you come without a struggle?"

"No chance in hell!" shouted Dark Samus. Samus suddenly felt her arm rise, but she had not moved it. Then Dark Samus took total control. She blasted the lead trooper aside and shot several Missiles at the rest, then plowed through them and into the hallway. She sped the way they had come, towards Samus's ship.

"Stop!" yelled Samus. "Why are you—"

"Didn't you hear him?" Dark Samus yelled back, still running. "Something is wrong here!" She dashed through the bay doors. Inside the docking bay she abruptly skidded to a halt.

A veritable army of Federation soldiers stood between the them and Samus's gunship, weapons trained on Samus. Several in high-class artillery turrets turned to aim at her as well. Behind them on a high platform stood Admiral Singer. He waved a hand. "Detonate!" At his command, the Marine next to him pressed a button on a nearby console. A chain of explosions rocked the area as several energy charges decimated Samus's ship.

Dark Samus was no longer controlling her, but Samus found she could not move. Her every breath echoed hard in her ears, and her heart felt like it was being punched from inside her chest.

Singer pointed at her. "Fi—"

A warning siren sounded for a split second before a massive impact rocked the _Shadow_. Through the viewport, Samus saw a group of small vessels darting around the ship, firing rockets. Out the opposite block of windows, she saw the large ship that had struck them—a Space Pirate boarding craft. As the Pirates streamed from the hole their ship had bored in the _Shadow_'s hull, Samus bolted for the airlock. She knew her only means of escape was to board a Pirate ship. Before she reached the airlock doors, they opened. From the chamber strode a figure clad in blue armor.

_Sylux!_ Samus immediately fired a volley of beam blasts at him as he walked forward. Sylux shot a stream of neutrino energy from his weapon that absorbed the beams and diverted the energy into his own weapons system. His armor glowed as the energy surged, then he shot it back. Samus narrowly avoided the blast.

As the Space Pirated and Federation troopers battled all around them, Samus and Sylux dueled. But soon Samus faltered, and Sylux pressed his advantage and struck her down. Before she could rise, he swiftly attached a disc to her arm cannon. It spread into a net of flux-metal strands that encircled the weapon and rendered it useless. Then he jabbed her neck with two fingers, and Samus felt a sedative enter her bloodstream.

He picked her up and carried her bodily to the airlock. She was fading from consciousness now, but before the airlock doors cycled shut and the darkness took her, she saw the cybernetic Space Pirate Weavel lunging at Admiral Singer's throat.

* * *

Samus drifted in and out of unconsciousness, occasionally aware of what was happening around her.

_Sylux bringing her into his ship, and taking off amid a crossfire of energy weapons.._

_The_ Shadow_ exploding behind her as the _Delano 7 _sped away…_

_Pursuit by a second GF flagship, and many fighter craft…_

_The agile_ Delano_ evading all attackers, and eventually escaping the escalating battle…_

* * *

"Wake up already…"

Samus groaned and opened her eyes. It was Dark Samus she heard, pulling her back to consciousness. She sat up and found herself in a sparse holding cell. She was not restrained, but the lock on her arm cannon was still present and she discovered almost all of her suit functions were offline, although the data for them was still in her suit's computer.

"The guy you _lost_ to locked us up here," said Dark Samus. "Who is he?"

"His name is Sylux. He's a Hunter," said Samus. "He hates the Federation, and that's about all I know. He hates me because I work for the Federation…" She trailed off. "I…_worked_ for the Federation."

Suddenly, the door opened. Samus tensed, but Sylux did not appear. After a moment, she got up and cautiously scouted the chamber beyond the door. It was a cargo area, with a wall of windows on one side. There was not a soul in sight, and out the windows Samus saw a desolate wasteland of ice.

"Command's through the other door," said Dark Samus. "Saw that while you were out."

Samus entered the cockpit area. There were no windows here, only a large, wide monitor and a complicated computer console. Samus sat in the pilot's chair and brought the system online. Most of the interface was locked, but some information was displayed: the ship had landed on planet Vho seven standard hours ago.

"Is he letting me go?" wondered Samus.

"That's not likely," scoffed Dark Samus. "You said he hated you. Doesn't he want to kill you?"

"He had plenty of time to do that already."

"Well, we should leave before he gets back. I'm not up for hanging around to see if he feels like killing you."

"But"—Samus wrestled briefly with the lock on her cannon—"I have this thing on, and less suit functions."

"Hey—there's always the Morph Ball."

* * *

Samus trekked though the snow, battling against the billowing winds. Her suit kept her warm and upright, but it took quite an effort to move against the gusts.

A crack suddenly appeared in the ice beneath Samus's feet. She nimbly leapt aside as an ice worm rose from the ground. It had a sharply pointed front end and spikes along the length of its body. Samus already had her beam cannon pointed at the creature before she remembered it was disabled. With a roar, the worm dove at her. Samus sidestepped it again, but the explosion of snow and ice caught her and slung her across the frozen ground. She skidded to a halt in time to see the worm burst out again, arcing high into the sky before coming back down right at her.

"I cannot believe I'm doing this," muttered Samus before rolling into Morph Ball form. She set a cluster of bombs before vacating the spot. The worm crashed down, swallowing the bombs as its maw passed through the space Samus had recently occupied. A chain of explosions from underground sent more ice shards flying. The worm didn't resurface.

Samus uncurled back to biped. As she turned to continue on her way, she lost her footing on the slick surface and fell. She went down painfully, her legs at awkward angles. Not a second later, the ice worm smashed through the ice and launched itself into the air again, screeching. It was moving too fast for Samus to avoid as it came back down.

* * *

Incoming transmission___  
Source: *Secure  
Identification Codes: Valid

To Captain Tor  
Concerning Order 720

1. Pursue HID#31725 with Priority One status. Hunter "Samus Aran" is a Class Alpha threat. Terminal force to be considered without hesitation.

2. Standing kill order on HID#00007. Priority One status applies. Termination of Hunter "Sylux" is the objective, not capture.

::Galactic Federation Transmission End::

* * *

Samus was not crushed beneath the worm, nor was she devoured by it. A wave of intense cold swept over the worm, encasing it in solid ice. As the now-immobile creature plummeted, a purple humanoid figure leapt up to it, curling into a spinning top as it did so. Then a single blade or limb swung from the top and sent the frozen worm flying. The top uncurled as it began to lose height, and it was the humanoid that landed nimbly as the worm hit the ground with a _crunch_. The Hunter Noxus fired a slew of icy projectiles at the worm and shattered it to fragments. He turned to Samus.

"Another old friend?" queried Dark Samus.

Samus sighed inwardly. _So it seems_.

Noxus said something in his own language. Samus's helmet computer immediately translated the Vhozon tongue to English. "Come with me. The others are waiting." Noxus turned and set off into the blizzard. Samus slowly got to her feet and ran to catch up before the snow could obscure him from her sight.

* * *

Noxus led Samus to a massive citadel of ice atop a mountainside. As they made their way up, Samus performed a quick database check on the structure. This revealed that the citadel—and its surrounding area—had been abandoned by the Vhozon race centuries ago. They entered the ice structure and passed through several rooms and into the main chamber.

There were more than a dozen bounty hunters, all seated at or standing around a long table. Samus knew some by reputation, and also recognized three from her mission to the Alimbic Cluster, where she had also first encountered Noxus. There was Trace, the young warrior from the greedy Kriken race; Kanden, a mutated bioform born in a laboratory; and Spire, one of the ancient Diamonl species of rock beings.

Then she noticed another. She smiled as the Hunter tapped a button on his helmet, retracting the visor, revealing a human face. It had been a long time, but Samus knew the face quite well.

Jonathan Coil grinned. "Remember me?"

"Absolutely," said Samus.

"Now I know who _he_ is," put in Dark Samus. "I was around for that."

"So you can speak," said the being next to Jonathan. "You never were very talkative." He had green, scaled skin, round yellow eyes, and six clawed arms.

"She definitely talks," said a female Phrygisian. "She talked to Rundas."

Another being rose from his seat. "Now that Aran is present, we will begin." He was a tall, impressive figure; wrapped in a robe so only his pale white, pointed face and long fingers could be seen. He indicated Samus's place at the table as Noxus took his.

A human half-stood, hesitating and saying "Sylux isn't here. Shouldn't we wait?"

"Sylux said he didn't care if we had the meeting with or without him," said Jonathan. "Personally, I say we just go ahead."

No objections were raised, so the man who had stood began. "Well, let's start with the obvious: the Galactic Federation has begun capturing bounty hunters. In cases where a Hunter put up too great of a struggle, they terminated the Hunter. Intercepted communications reveal this is not an isolated event. All signs indicate that the orders are coming from the highest GF official."

"What is their logic? Motives?" asked an Eridian Hunter. She sounded baffled. "The Federation has coexisted with us for a century. Some Hunters are as respected by their High Command as any Federation officer." She indicated Samus while she spoke. "We have done nothing aggressive toward them."

"Could someone have seized control of the High Command?" asked a Hunter Samus didn't know. He was a Vorzyd, an amphibious species.

"That is unlikely," said the tall, pale Hunter. "These appear to be legitimate Federation orders."

"Is it any specific group of bounty hunters? Is this happening across the galaxy?" Several more theories were proposed and briefly debated, and further questions were asked. After a while Samus finally spoke. "Before the Marines attacked, Commander Adam Malkovich opened an emergency line and warned me before his transmission was cut off."

This sparked a chain of exclamations from the assembled Hunters. "That's a relief," Jonathan told Samus. "I couldn't believe Malkovich would go along with something like this."

Just then, Sylux entered the room. He strode to the table, towards Samus. She stood quickly and assumed a fighting stance, but he held out a palm in a gesture of peace. He reached out and tapped Samus's weapon lock before she could draw away. The cage folded back into disc form, and Samus's visor flickered as all of her suit functions came back online. She sat back down, still watching him warily. "So much for him wanting to kill you," said Dark Samus drily.

Sylux set a small holoprojector on the table. It activated, displaying a bunker lying in a valley. Armored troopers dotted the ground around it. "A Federation base? We should attack it now," said Trace immediately. "If they know we're here, and they probably do, we need to strike before they can organize an assault on us. If they don't, we can take them by surprise and obtain information from their computers."

Other Hunters voiced disagreement or assent until the Hunter in the cloak called for quiet. "The majority appears to support this idea," he said. "Now, who will go with Sylux?"

Samus stood up, as did Trace. Several more followed suit, but Sylux shook his head and held up three fingers. He turned and walked towards the door, Samus and Trace following.

* * *

The three stood on an icy ridge overlooking the Federation complex. The base was not on high alert, but there was a heavy blast shield barring entrance and guards patrolled the perimeter. Several searchlights also swept the surrounding cliff faces.

The mission began. Sylux morphed into the Lockjaw, his alternate form, and began flying towards the base, a chain of electrical explosions keeping him aloft. He weaved among the searchlights as he went, gradually losing altitude. He alighted on the roof of the building and returned to biped, unseen by the patrolling troopers.

Samus was already moving. With a great leap, she landed on the icy slope and began to skid down at tremendous speed. The slope was an express ride to the valley where the Federation outpost lay. It wasn't long before a searchlight picked her up. The troopers below shouted to one another and aimed their weapons at the defenseless Samus. But before one shpt could be fired, a hail of red lasers came from above, each one striking a trooper squarely in the head. They collapsed instantly. On the ledge still stood trace, his Imperialist rifle trained on the base.

He never missed. In seconds, there was not one trooper still standing. Samus neared the end of the slope, where the ice curved sharply up. She entered Morph Ball from and flew into the air. She landed a short distance from the blast doors and sprang to biped, continuing to dash at the doors.

Before she reached them, Sylux leapt off the roof, flipping in midair and activating the charges he had placed along the top of the door's frame. They exploded with enough force to send the door crashing down. The two Hunters dashed through the smoke and entered the base.

They ran through the hallways of the Federation complex, dealing swiftly with all the foes in their way. Several minutes in, an Imperialist laser was focused through a window and smote a trooper before Samus or Sylux could attack him. Seconds later, a three-legged, red creature lunged through the glass. The Triskelion alt-form unfolded quickly into Trace. Before long, they had reached the central computer room of the base. Sylux approached the main console and quickly bypassed the mainframe's security. A file opened onscreen.

Galactic Federation Order No. 720

To be undertaken immediately: the capture or termination of all bounty hunters in Federation space. Primary objective is capture and attempted recruitment to Operation Aurora, but terminal force is required secondary option. Priority One targets are HID#31725, "Samus Aran," and HID#00007, "Sylux." Termination of HID#00007 is the primary objective. Should target be captured, termination must be immediate.___

"Open the file for Operation Aurora," said Dark Samus. Sylux did so not a moment later.

Operation Aurora

To be executed under Galactic Federation Order No. 761

Primary Objective:___

Suddenly, the display blacked out. The lights in the room shut off, and what had appeared to be the wall behind the console suddenly split and retracted horizontally. Behind was an enormous tank filled with an opaque blue liquid. The fluid in the tank became clear. Inside floated an enormous shape, almost a huge brain with tentacles. This was the organic supercomputer of the Galactic Federation: an Aurora Unit.

"Hello, Samus Aran, Trace, and Sylux," it said in a deep, slow voice. "I am AU 309."

Something struck Samus about the chamber then. It was eerily similar to the room the Space Pirates had built on Zebes to be the stronghold for their own bio-machine—the Mother Brain.

The AU spoke again, interrupting her thoughts. "I cannot allow to access the Federation database. Under Galactic Federation Order Number Seven Two Zero, you are all targets for capture or termination. This room will remain in lockdown until Federation reinforcements arrive."

Trace raised his weapon and fired several bursts at the Aurora Unit's tank. They caused not the slightest crack in its surface, nor did they pass through and into the liquid. Sylux spun and fired at the door, but a powerful shield had lowered over it. "You will not be allowed to leave the Aurora Chamber," stated 309. "Compliance with the Federation is the suggested course of action. The fluid turned opaque once more, obscuring the AU from sight.

The Hunters waited tensely. "Can you send a command to your ship?" Trace asked Sylux. Sylux shook his head. Just then, hatches sprung open on all sides of them. Entering the chamber from every direction was a stream of Federation Marines. They spread out and encircled the Hunters, who stood with their back together and prepared for what could be their last fight.

"I don't believe it miracles," muttered Dark Samus, "but it looks like we could use one now." And then, against all odds, a miracle occurred.

The roof of the Aurora Chamber was blown apart. Hovering above the base were the ships of several Hunters. They opened fire on the mass of soldiers below, forcing them to drawn back. A small transport craft descended amid the hail of energy missiles. Jonathan Coil piloted the hovership. "Jump on!" he shouted. Samus leapt up to the open cargo hold of the ship, and Sylux and Trace followed suit. Jonathan took off, and the Hunters' gunships followed them.

"Well," said Jonathan. "We'll have to move locations now. Maybe even move off-planet, since they're going to chase us. So tell me you got some reeeeaally good information."

"Order 720…" said Samus. "Calls for the capture or death of all bounty hunters."

Jonathan swore under his breath. "Galaxy-wide?" Samus nodded.

"And," said Trace, "we have the name of something else. 'Operation Aurora.' Their AU locked us out before we got the details of their big plan."

"Huh…" Jonathan sighed, then grinned at Samus. "At least we're even now, Samus…"

* * * *

The mountainous Phrygisian abruptly retracted his ice blade and offered his hand. "My name's Rundas" he said in a voice like the deep hiss of a freezer unit. "You fight well." Samus was wary about lowering her guard. She had spent the last hour locked in combat with the Phrygisian, and now he was asking for a handshake. A tentative moment later, she took his hand.

It was several months after Samus's first mission as bounty hunter. She had wiped out the Space Pirates on her former home of Zebes and destroyed their facility. Despite the struggles she had been through and difficulties she had overcome, Samus was still unsure of herself. Although she had been able to bury it sufficiently enough to get a position in the GF police force previously, the memory of her planet's destruction still haunted her, and she had a somewhat unhealthily obsessive hatred of the Space Pirates. In short, Samus had not yet developed the coolness and poise she would later become known for.

"So, we're both good guys, right?" said Rundas. "Then let's team up and take down these Pirates." They were on the planet Usir, a thought-to-be uninhabited world outside Federation space. Both Samus and Rundas had been sent independently to Usir to investigate reports of Space Pirate activity.

Samus hesitated, then nodded.

* * *

The last Space Pirate lunged wildly at Samus. She shot it before its strike could reach her. As it tumbled backwards off the bridge and into the chasm below, it grabbed Samus by the leg and dragged her towards the edge. She tired momentarily to correct her angle, but gravity won.

As Samus tumbled to join the Pirate, Rundas leapt off the ledge. A trail of ice formed under him, propelling him to Samus. He grabbed hold of her arm and directed the ice upwards. Back on the bridge, he let go and the two Hunters landed safely. "That was close," laughed Rundas. "Looks like you owe me one."

They continued across the bridge and to the Pirates' command center. There, most of the machinery and computers had been removed. Defense turrets sat lifeless in their cradles with no power. It appeared as if the Pirates had ceased their operation on Usir. There were only four Pirates in the room, standing together in the shadows. Samus and Rundas did not notice them until one began to speak.

"Hunter." The Pirate's voice was surprisingly adept at what was obviously to it a foreign language. "I propose a truce."

Samus did not even consider it. She fired immediately at the Space Pirate, but he anticipated this and quickly sidestepped the beam. "A truce, Hunter," repeated the Pirate. Samus kept her weapon trained on him, feeling red-hot anger rising in her veins.

Rundas advanced. "I don't think so, Pirate. You're setting a trap."

The Pirate held out his hands to show he was unarmed. "We seek an agreement; that is all."

"No," spat Samus, finding it took every ounce of her determination to stop herself from killing the Pirate. "Your kind don't believe in peace." Rundas looked at her, surprised to hear her speaking.

"Then I am unique," responded the Pirate.

"Shut up," said Samus, shaking with rage. "Every one of you is the same. All you care about is conquest. You think you can rule everything but you're wrong. You're ignorant, mindless, pathetic life-forms." It was all her old hatred, bubbling up to the surface. "I will erase you scum from the universe. You will never conquer anything." As she stared at the creature, she felt something inside her break. "You'll all die!"

Samus lunged at the Pirate with a blazing fury that was quite unlike her. She rammed her arm cannon hard against his head, feeling and hearing the sharp _snap_ as metal overpowered bone. The sensation elated and terrified her in equal measures.

Samus slung the Pirate away from her, rapidly firing at it. The corpse jerked as the beams hit it, then collapsed pathetically to the floor. The remaining four Pirates roared as one and converged on her. Rundas stabbed one from behind with his ice blade, and hurled another aside and shot it with a missile as it skidded.

One of the other two Pirates struck at Samus. She grabbed its hand and twisted sharply, causing the creature to howl as its arm bent unnaturally. With a sort of sick satisfaction, Samus shot it directly in the head. The last Space Pirate dashed to where the one who had spoken first lay. He took a small device from the hand of his dead comrade and pressed a button.

A lattice of lasers shot from the walls, connecting in a grid that sat just above knee level. Samus and Rundas dropped to the floor, but the Phrygisian's bulky frame was still in the path of the beams. The Pirate was cut to pieces instantly. Rundas' frigid armor protected him, but the lasers began to sear away at it. Samus swiftly spun full circle on the floor, hitting each laser emitter with a massive. The beams vanished, and the Hunters rose.

"So it was a trap after all," said Rundas. "Not really surprising."

Samus didn't answer. She was still shaking, but it was no longer anger that made her tremble. "Hey." Rundas put a hand on her shoulder. "You have good reason to hate these Pirates. You're still a pretty new Hunter; when you're old like me you'll be better at handling your emotions." Samus had to smile at that, even if it was a weak smile. She couldn't imagine the cool-as-ice Rundas ever having had problems with his emotions.

Rundas nodded. "Now…we're even."

* * *

The transport ship tilted abruptly to one side as a crackling beam of energy shot past it, and Samus crash-landed in the present. Despite Jonathan's best efforts, several GF pursuit craft had caught up.

They weaved among the hail of projectiles coming from the Federation vessels. "Hold on!" shouted Jonathan as they went into a steep dive. Jonathan pulled up just short of the ice. One Federation ship that had tried to follow crashed, sending billowing flames and debris in all direction. Jonathan weaved among the rock and ice formations as their pursuers fired on them from above. Then, one of the Hunter's ships dropped from the clouds behind the GF squad and opened fire. One more enemy ship went down, and another turned to engage the attacker. This left four to chase the transport.

Trace anchored himself to a handrail and leaned out the open side of the ship/ Je began to fire at the cockpits of the fighters, but the lasers could not penetrate the Federation shields. Seeing this, Trace instead readied a charge. He activated it, then threw it an one of the oncoming ships. The explosive stuck to fast to the ship's hull and detonated a moment later, sending the troopers spiraling down in a ball of fire. Two of the remaining craft drew up to the unarmed transport as they entered a flat stretch. The other stayed above, preventing Jonathan from climbing with an uninterrupted volley of projectiles.

Sylux lined up his target briefly, then ran and jumped out of the transport. He was suspended momentarily between the two vessels, then he had smashed through the pilot's window and into the cockpit. A second later, the Federation ship dipped sharply, almost skimming the frozen ground, but then steadied itself and rose back up.

Samus watched as Sylux expertly piloted the ship up and attacked the higher of the two other pursuing Federation ships. He harried it away from the transport, then swiftly shot it down. The ship hit a mountainside an was utterly decimated.

The final ship began to fire. Jonathan veered away from it, but the pilot matched the slower transport ship's movements. Samus curled into Morph Ball form, and with a boost flew out at the enemy ship. Her Spider Ball function kept her on to the hull as she returned to biped. She aimed briefly at the glass under her feet and fired.

The Federation ship, now pilotless, began its final descent as Samus made a great leap back toward the transport. Jonathan quickly maneuvered the ship so she sailed through the open hatch and landed safely. Sylux, in the Federation vessel, joined them. A minute later, the other Hunter's ship also returned, presumably having destroyed its pursuer.

The transmission icon began blinking on the screen. Jonathan opened the link, and the tall Hunter from the citadel appeared. He did not look angry, but neither was he pleased. "Continue your course. The others will join you, and you can follow them to our rendezvous point." The image winked out, the transmission abruptly ended. The ship ascended and vanished again, swallowed up by the clouds.

There was no more pursuit, for the moment at least. They flew in silence, leaving Samus to her thoughts…

* * *

Samus vaulted backwards as Rundas summoned an ice spike at her feet. She raised her arm cannon, unsure of his intentions.

Rundas laughed. The sound was not menacing, but there was a note in it that belied a certain darkness. "C'mon, Samus," he said. "You knew it was going to end like this. We both did. Every mission, from the very first one, we knew…"

He pulled his arms in for a second, then spread them wide as an unstable surge of power burst from his body. Tendrils of blue light swirled around his bulky frame. "We met fighting, and we'll finish that fight."

_Samus sighed inwardly_._ At the time she had not wanted to acknowledge it, but what Rundas had said was true_._ They_ had _both known how it was going to end. They were rivals from the start, and if one happened to save the other's life, well, that was almost competition as well_.

_Samus knew they had been friends_._ But there was an unfinished battle hanging between them that made them, on some level, enemies_._ It was never bitter rivalry, though, just a desire to surpass_.

_Could she have tried to reason with him? Samus doubted that would have done any good, and wasn't sure had even wanted to try_.

_And so she had fought him_.

Rundas stumbled backwards. Samus lowered her weapon. It was over. Even then, Rundas laughed, sounding for all the world like the breath of a refrigeration unit. "You—" he started to say.

A spike of ice burst upward, impaling Rundas through the chest. Whatever his last words might have been were turned to a last gasp. Two more spikes rose up in succession, and Rundas was no more.

Samus could not move. Her feet were in quicksand and her limbs were cement, but nothing compared to the weight that settled in her chest. She could do nothing but watch as the specter of Dark Samus slowly absorbed her friend, leaving nothing but ice and memories behind.

* * *

They were on board the _Delano 7_, having abandoned the transport and Federation ship. Trace had returned to his own gunship. They had joined the other Hunters and were currently orbiting Vho. A conference was is session via holograms.

"That attack was a mistake," said the Vorzydian Hunter. "We gained nothing!"

"We gained a name," replied another. "It's something to focus on and to investigate—Operation Aurora."

The Hunter who had spoken first slammed his fast on his computer console. "No! That is nothing! We must leave this galaxy. It is over,."

This brought a torrent of outraged objections from the other Hunters. "_Leave the galaxy?_" exclaimed one. "Are you insane?"

"There is no other option," said the Hunter. "We flee, or we die."

The tall, pale Hunter, who had been silent since the beginning of the debate, now spoke. "We are being pursued by the might of the Galactic Federation. Did you expect no setbacks? Perhaps you thought we could solve all our problems sitting at that table. It—"

"Are you calling me a coward?" interrupted the Vorzyd angrily.

"Oh, hush," said the Eridian Hunter. "Let him finish speaking."

"Thank you." The Hunter resumed his statement. "It is a wonder we gained any information at all. We now know the scope of this hunt, and its goal. Whatever lies ahead, it will not be easy. But a mass exodus is not the answer. We cannot allow the Federation to implement their Operation Aurora."

"He's right," said Jonathan. "We'd have to be out of our minds to wander off into lawless space with no destination in mind."

The Vorzyd crossed his arms. "Then just what do you suggest we do?"

"Fight, idiot!" exclaimed Dark Samus ineffectually.

"We will fight them." The cloaked Hunter drew himself up to his formidable full height. "They have united us, making them or common enemy. We will stand together and resist." Many of the other Hunters voiced assent to his words.

"All right," said the Eridian Hunter. She brought up a galactic map on her holo-screen. "Where—"

Samus did not hear any more, as Sylux suddenly pulled the _Delano_'s thrusters to maximum power and rocketed away. Not a second later, a large energy detonation rocked the area behind them, obscuring the other Hunters' ships from view.. An enormous Federation destroyer was rising through the atmosphere, surrounded by hundreds of Stiletto-class fighters. The destroyer was firing fission charges from one of its main cannons, all the while advancing towards its prey. Sylux piloted the _Delano_ away from the attacking GF fleet while rapidly keying in hyperdrive sequences. "Go, go!" shouted Jonathan. "They'll get a lock!" A split second later, the ship flashed blue and disappeared as it jumped the hyperspeed.

After an instantaneous moment, they reappeared. The ship's computer automatically began its report. "_Currently orbiting planet Cylosis_." The surface of the planet below was covered by a vast number of factories, skyscrapers and defense towers, creating a grid of green and blue light over avast expanse of blackness.

Then, from a brilliant flash of light behind them sped two Stiletto fighters. The agile craft opened fire, and Sylux titled the ship almost on one side to avoid a volley aimed at the _Delano_'s engines. Samus avoided an unceremonious fall by wrapping an arm around a handrail, grabbing Jonathan's hand to prevent his fall as well. Jonathan thanked her as Sylux righted the gunship. "This isn't good. If they could follow us through hyperspace, their computers have locked on to us. They'll keep following us—for as long as it takes."

They began a steep dive toward Cylosis. Flames roared to life all around as the _Delano_ entered the planet's atmosphere. The Stilettos were right behind them, cannons firing again and again. One energy burst struck the Delano across its left wing. Instantly, warnings popped up on the monitor, estimating wing functionality at 68% and falling. Sylux struggled to keep control as they rushed onward.

Two more blasts landed on the hull, sending a series of damage reports up the screen. "We're going down," muttered Jonathan. Suddenly, Sylux spun the _Delano_ around, facing the Federation fighters as they plummeted. He began to fire, his unerring accuracy quickly striking both ships. But now they began to fall in earnest, going into a spiral. Cylosis rushed up to meet them. Battling against g-force, Sylux reached forward and pressed three buttons in sequence, and then, with one last effort, he flipped an illuminated switch.

The _Delano 7_ impacted a tower, swerving down and into a final drop and violently crashing into the surface of Cylosis.

* * *

A/N: So ends Part Two. By the way, if there are any prominent Metroid characters that seem to be missing or haven't gotten very much 'screen time,' don't worry. There's a whole slew of flashbacks (not to mention the rest of present plotline) on the way to cover them. However, the most prominent example of this, Ridley, will not be appearing in this story. Why? I'll include my reasons in the next part-end blurb. Part Three is up—although when you read this it may only be a small portion—so continue on, and, most importantly, **review!**


	3. Part Three

A/N Nov. 25-Dec. 22, 2009: I have just now found out that the story is not bumped to the top of the page when I update the chapters themselves. Ah well, it will now that I've begun Part Three. I'm begging now…review! * Course finals, way too much work, blah blah blah et cetera. I've finished the term and I now have a mid-sized update chunk for you today to make up (somewhat) for my absence.

Jan. 18, 2010: And I'm almost sort of nearly close to finishing Part Three! Maybe within the next week or so... Part Four is going to be coming up a little differently in that I won't update until half (or perhaps a third, Part Four is L-O-N-G long) of the chapter is complete, and then again with the remaining part(s). Look forward to even more Metroid loving!

* * *

Samus awoke facedown in the dirt, several meters away from the burning wreckage of the _Delano_. Waking up was itself a surprise. Surely she could not have survived a crash from space. That had to be the last straw—even for her.

But she was alive, for the time being. She attempted to push herself upright, but a line of agony shot up her entire right side and she collapsed. The hot center of the pain was apparently her arm, which seemed to be broken. Her leg was in good shape—relatively, considering the situation—but she could feel one or two bruised ribs. It was also amazing how acute the pain from her collection of cuts and other wounds was despite the much worse state of her arm.

With no small amount of resolve, Samus braced her left arm against a pile of debris and painfully struggled upward. Her body shrieked in protest, but she successfully stood up, stumbling almost immediately but using the debris for support.

Half of her visor had been reduced to an opaque web of cracks, and the other half was missing entirely. Samus counted herself lucky that the supertough material had not been punched inward. She tapped the side of the helmet, and it unsealed from the suit with a hiss. She removed it and set it on the ground.

Through her haze of pain and shock she heard Dark Samus's voice. "I thought you were going to die." She sounded disappointed. "That Sylux must have done something…oh well. Speaking of him, you think either of them survived?"

Samus didn't respond immediately. She stood still as her pain faded to a dull roar, regaining at last a modicum of clarity. Then wheat Dark Samus had said registered in her brain. At once, she stumbled away from her resting place, toward what was left of the _Delano 7_.

Desperately she searched the wreckage. Finally, she saw a gloved hand reaching up from a pile of rubble. She went to it as fast as she could without her legs giving way and dropped to her knees. Her weapon was useless, and her arm hung limp inside it besides. She braced her left shoulder against the large metal plate atop the pile and pushed with all her strength. With a loud shriek of steel on steel, the plate slid aside. Jonathan lay there, a trickle of blood running from one side of his mouth. His armor was utterly destroyed, and it appeared he had a deep cut across his chest. His eyelids flickered open. "Samus…" A second later, his eyes rolled up and he slipped back into unconsciousness.

Samus slung his outstretched arm over her shoulder, tightened her grip, and stood, pulling Jonathan to his feet. She began to walk away, looking back just once more for any sign of Sylux. But the flames were rising, and they obscured the crash site from view.

* * *

She kicked open the rusty door of the long-abandoned storage shed and entered. With a sweep of her one good arm, she cleared the tools and half-repaired pieces of industrial technology from the surface of a low bench. Using the last of her faint vitality, she lifted Jonathan and laid him on the bench.

Samus collapsed backwards against a frame of metal shelving, feeling her damaged armor grate against itself. But she had not the strength to remove it. Her head slumped as the hand of exhaustion caressed her and she fell into the peaceful dark.

* * *

The Pirates were out in force now, massing all their troops in the corridors of Tourain for one final stand against their hated foe, the Hunter.

Samus had once again returned home, to Zebes. Her welcoming gift was only the knowledge that perhaps this time she could rid the planet of the scum that resided in its depths once and for all.

She had changed much since her mission on Zebes. Then, she had been caught between the fragments of her childhood and a future without family, friends, or even any familiar faces. But Samus had seen and done much since leaving the Federation police force. She had survived hardships and enjoyed peaceful times, and gone were the haunting nightmares of the past. Samus was now a confident Hunter, already established as one of the most skilled in the galaxy, and she was determined the Space Pirate plague would not poison her home much longer.

The Pirate troopers fired frantically at Samus as she weaved among them, quickly dispatching opponent after opponent. No matter how many of the scaly creatures surrounded her, they were blown aside in the blink of an eye.

As Samus battled her way toward them, one of the Pirates in the group guarding the sanctum gate hissed in his own guttural language into his communicator. Immediately, a series of glowing distortions rent the air as five armored troopers warped into the room. They resembled Pirate commandoes, but each had much slimmer armor and a jagged sword in place of the Pirates' usual handguns. With a roar, one of the five dashed forward, roughly pushing aside the other Pirates in his path. He reached Samus and dove at her with a snarl, carrying her to the floor. Samus kicked vertically and knocked him back. She stood quickly as the other squad members advanced. One regular trooper tried to take advantage of the confrontation and lunged at Samus's head from behind. Samus spun and shot him three times before his blow reached her.

The armored Pirates were already moving. As one, they sprang forward, swords flashing as they struck at Samus. She caught two of the blades on her arm cannon, and stepped to the side in time to watch another fly past her. She pivoted, gracefully moving behind the two whose swords she had parried. One whirled around, sweeping his weapon horizontally. Samus easily ducked the strike and smashed the Pirate across the face with her cannon. He fell to the ground, body slack.

As his comrade reeled, another Pirate ran at Samus. She swung her cannon at him as well, but the Pirate was too quick. He avoided the swipe and drove his blade at Samus's visor. She jerked her head to one side at the last instant, and forced her adversary to retreat with a hail of beam fire.

Three of the Pirates rushed at her. She fired rapidly at them, catching one in an unprotected leg joint. The other two reached her and attacked. As Samus fended off the Pirates' blows, dispatching the remaining regular troopers when she was able, the sanctum doors opened. Through them dashed a figure covered in green armor with an orange visor set in the front of his helm. As he ran, the erstwhile Space Pirate Weavel unsheathed a razor-sharp blade from one arm.

Samus's eyes widened as she saw her old enemy. She was locked in a grapple with two of the Pirates and could only watch as her neared, deadly blade drawn back. Then from behind her ran another armor-clad being. His suit was hued in blues, and his visor glowed yellow. He passed Samus and the other Pirates, and rammed a shoulder into Weavel. As the cybernetic Pirate stumbled backward, the man in the blue armor struck his blade and shattered it.

One of the armored Pirates turned as the mysterious man dashed by, and Samus took the opportunity to sink several bursts into his skull. The other went for her throat, but Samus brought her arm cannon between them. The Pirate collided with it, and she fired a missile before he could draw back.

The sole remaining Pirate approached, growling. He met an ignominious end when two stray projectiles from Weavel's Battlehammer caught him in the back. Samus turned her attention to the center of the room, where Weavel in the man and blue were locked in combat.

"I thought the Federation decided to send you in alone," said Dark Samus.

"They did," muttered Samus.

The armored man aimed a kick at Weavel's midsection, but his foot met with empty air—Weavel had split in two. The man dropped into a roll to avoid a salvo of shots from the turret-like bottom section, springing back up and catching Weavel's arm as the top half lunged at him. Weavel deactivated the turret, breaking free of the man's grip and rejoining with his other half. As he stood, the man grabbed him around one shoulder and hurled him to the ground. Before Weavel could recover, he dropped and punched the cybernetic Pirate in the side of the head. Unconscious was immediate.

The man straightened up and turned to face Samus. Samus tensed as he drew a rifle strapped to his back, but his shots were directed to one side. She turned and saw the Pirate she had hit in the leg collapse. She herd a hiss and returned her attention to the man.

His visor slid up. He had dark skin, laugh lines around his eyes, and a wide smile. He strode forward and offered his hand to Samus. "My name's Jonathan Coil. Pleasure to meet you, Samus." His voice was deep and rich, and matched his appearance.

Samus took his hand, saying " I though this was a solo mission."

"It is." Jonathan replaced the rifle, securing the strap. Samus noted he was left-handed. "I don't work for the Federation—I'm just here to collect the bounty on this guy." He indicated Weavel's inert form. "He's a real nasty piece of work, even worse than most of these other Pirates."

Samus nodded. Jonathan went over to Weavel and secured his wrists with cuffs of a light but durable alloy. "I'll leave you to your mission." He hefted to unconscious Pirate and slung him over one shoulder. "I have a feeling we'll meet again, Samus…"

* * *

"…Samus."

The two words overlapped through the past and present, one voice male and one female. One Jonathan's and one…

"Open your eyes, Samus."

Samus did, and found herself blinded by a light directly overhead. After a moment of squinting, her eyes adjusted. She was looking at an ordinary strip light, like one would find in a hospital. A hospital?

Samus sat up abruptly and looked around. She was in a medical bay, a small, white room with a row of beds along one wall—one of which she occupied. An intravenous catheter led from her left arm to a bag of clear liquid, and her right arm was in a splint studded with bio-sensors.

"Hello." Standing in front of her was a woman in a white coat with straight, blonde hair. She nodded to Samus. "You have a serious compound fracture in your right arm. Your legs and other arm are fine, but you've also broken one rib and come close on another. Your skull escaped major damage, and all your ligaments are in place as well." She smiled. "Would you mind telling me your name?"

_You know my name_. Samus blinked confusedly. The woman had just addressed her by her name…hadn't she? "My name is Samus Aran."

"Mine is Kahlan."

"How did I survive? And where am I?"

A diagram appeared on one of the monitors nearby. "Impact gel," said Kahlan, indicating what appeared to be a liquid shell of some sort on the screen. "It's very advanced technology. The gel is designed to absorb and disperse shocks. Your armor had residue all over it. I imagine there were several layers, but even that couldn't have dampened such an impact very much." The schematic was replaced by a logo and the words _MRX Laboratories_.

"This is MRX Labs. We develop and manufacture many types of technologies, including spacecraft, armor, and computer systems." Kahlan gestured at the screen as a list of information about the facility appeared. "I'm a head researcher here—I work in our 7th division. You crashed near one of our manufacturing plants, and in investigating we found the trail you left. We brought you here and treated you."

She walked to the other side of Samus's bed and consulted a data panel mounted on the wall. "The other survivor had more serious injuries than you, although nothing fatal. He underwent surgery three hours ago and is currently recovering."

"At the crash site…" Samus though back, picturing the burning remnants of the _Delano_ as she walked away from them. "Was anyone else there?"

Kahlan shook her head. 'No. Was anyone besides the two of you onboard?"

"No," said Samus quietly, "it was just us. I guess my memory is a bit shaky."

"All right," said Kahlan, walking to the door. "Your arm fracture should be healed sufficiently for you to be able to move tomorrow, and the rest of your injuries will likely be taken care of overnight." An amount of a cloudy fluid slid down the catheter, and Samus immediately felt herself drifting to sleep. Kahlan stepped out the door as silently as a ghost, turning as it slid shut. "Good night, Samus…"

* * *

_A red haze over a stifling torrent of blackness, swirling with his heavy breaths. His tall frame hung from energy ropes like the tentacles of some ravenous beast._

"_Answer us. Where are the bounty hunters meeting?"_

_Silence. He would not give these dogs one traitorous scrap of information. He would take his knowledge to the peace of his grave._

_One of them grabbed a tattered shred of what had been his traditional cloak and pulled him painfully down to eye level. "What are Samus Aran and Sylux planning to do on Cylosis?"_

_The cloak. A symbol of his ancient race, meant to represent strength and will. They may have destroyed the cloth, but they cannot destroy what it symbolizes._

"_What are the plans of the bounty hunters? How much did you learn during your raid on Vho?"_

_An excruciating shock coursed through his broken body when he did not respond. What of it? He refused to yield to such scum. He was resigned to remain in the dark chamber, mute as a statue, until the life was gone from his very bones._

* * *

"…four ribs, both legs, one foot, snapped Achilles tendon, the obvious gash across my chest, nearly popped a collarbone—probably wasn't helped by you dragging me around by the way—lost a few chips from my skull—"

"Heart pushed into one leg, brain flattened, stomach inverted, an alien burst out of your chest, and your head is now detachable," said Samus with a smile, cutting off Jonathan's detailed list of injuries. "I get it."

"And on top of you dislocating half my joints and depositing me in an old shack, my armor was wrecked. They said they can fix yours, but not mine."

"It's coming out of _my_ credit account."

Jonathan rolled his eyes, then sighed. "So we survived a crash from space. We're pretty tough, you and me."

Samus nodded. "_We_ survived it."

"Sylux…" Jonathan sounded thoughtful. "I'd heard he was out for revenge against the GF, and he was also attacking bounty hunters…but all he did was help us out.

"He wasn't holding back when we fought," said Samus. "Four times in the Alimbic Cluster, although I saw him several more times when he was battling the other Hunters. Yet…he could have killed me, but he brought me to Vho instead."

"The Alimbic Cluster?" said Jonathan surprisedly. "Out in the Tetra Galaxy? Why did you go there?"

"It was a mission. Six other Hunters, including Sylux, had traveled there as well to investigate the 'ultimate power' a telepathic message had spoken of…" Samus closed her eyes, memories filling her head.

She could see the words on the screen as if they were there before her. _Discover the meaning behind this mysterious telepathic message. If the "ultimate power" can be secured, ensure Federation control. If the power cannot be secured, ensure that it remains secret or destroy it._

_Seeing those words, she primed her ship's warp engines as the screen began to scroll through a list of coordinates._

"I fought the other Hunters for control of eight keys called Octoliths. When brought together, they opened a gate to a prison ship called…"

_Oubliette. A fitting name for the dungeon of oblivion. They stood in a circle around the towering pillar in the center if the chamber. They had come to a sort of strained peace owing to the presence of the creature that floated above the structure._

"Gorea, the monster that had all but demolished the Alimbic worlds. They had sealed Gorea inside the prison with their own life energy."

_It had shaped itself around the enormous Seal Sphere, a ball of unknown elements that shone with intense power. It had an angular head inset with one large eye and several smaller ones. Samus thought that, with its three spindly legs and disproportionate head, it looked rather like a surveying tripod. The bizarre observation provided her with a moment of levity before Gorea charged at them._

Jonathan's eyebrows nearly disappeared off the top of his shaven head. "A _tripod_?"

"I needed _something_ to laugh at. We fought it, but none of our attacks so much as scratched it."

_Gorea's eyes burned as it closed in on them, impervious to the array of weapons fire directed at its head and torso. Suddenly, seven luminous tentacles lanced out at the Hunters._

"I managed to avoid its lunge, but it caught the other six and began to…absorb something from them. I thought it might have killed them."

Jonathan nodded. "Obviously not."

"It began to use their weapons against me. I found that immediately after using a weapon, it was vulnerable to that weapon."

_Gorea screeched as Samus targeted its shoulders with bursts of Imperialist fire. The Seal Sphere rose from Gorea's body and hovered overhead, seeming to drawn in energy from the surroundings._

"I was able to damage the Sphere. After a while, it transformed."

_The Seal Sphere blazed with tongues of white-got flame as Gorea's limbs dropped away. It began to levitate, and in a blur, the surroundings shifted to the inner core of Oubliette._

"Nothing could damage it. It was far more powerful, and I knew it wouldn't be long before it killed me. But then…I found it."

"The Omega Cannon."

"Just as the message had said. With it, I was able to destroy Gorea. But either the Cannon was too strong, or the explosion of the Seal Sphere was; Oubliette started to collapse.

_Samus's gunship rocketed away as glowing cracks spread across the great ship of Oubliette. As the prison blew itself to pieces, six more ships flew from it and disappeared into the unfathomable depths of space._

Jonathan sat upright, alarm written on his face. "Samus, what happened to the Omega Cannon? It wasn't destroyed?"

Samus shook her head. "Why? What's—" She cut herself off "Oh, stars," she muttered. "They have it."

"Samus, you know the Feds! They've probably already reproduced it, and even if they only have the one—"

"Excuse me." A man had appeared in the doorway. "Dr. Kahlan would like to see you, Samus."

"Well, go ahead," said Jonathan. "We're going to need a miracle…"

* * *

Samus found herself missing her armor suit as she followed the man through a series of hallways. Eventually they arrived at a door, the plaque upon which read _Dr. Kahlan S._ The man stepped aside, allowing Samus to enter.

"Hello, Samus." Kahlan sat at a desk positioned before a wall of windows that overlooked a ghostly-white room that held a large number of computer servers as well as a lone, complicated-looking terminal that sat in the center with cables spreading from it in all directions. Samus sat in a chair facing Kahlan's. "Is your arm healing?" inquired Kahlan. "Do you have any stiffness or pain?"

"No." Samus could not read anything in the woman's face. She was skilled at picking up on emotions, but Kahlan betrayed not a hint of hr inner thoughts—something Samus had also taught herself to do. "Why did you want to speak to me?"

"To put it bluntly, Samus…" Kahlan paused. "I know why you're here."

Samus didn't respond. Kahlan continued. "The Federation has already issued a death warrant for you, and demanded that if anyone on Cylosis knows where you are, they must turn you in."

"You haven't." It was a statement of fact.

"I don't plan to. Nobody at MRX will turn you over to the Federation. A large amount of technology used by the GF is manufactured or even designed in the factories and labs here. They won't risk losing their supply of weapons and computers by pressuring us."

Kahlan looked intensely at Samus. "Whatever the Federation is planning to do, we can't fight them. The fact that we won't hand you over to the GF police doesn't mean that all of Cylosis will defy them."

"I understand. But why did you call me here?"

"Although we cannot openly resist the Federation, we can provide assistance. On the planet Siber is a minor Sector _A_ Federation base. It may be possible for us to get you inside."

"Inside." Samus knew full well what Kahlan meant. "You have the means to do that?"

"Yes."

_How can I trust her?_ Samus looked critically at the woman sitting opposite her. _What 'trail' did they follow from the _Delano_, and why bother? Why treat the fugitive victims of a spacecraft crash?_ _And…Sylux._

"At the crash site," she said suddenly. "There were three of us; myself, Jonathan, and another Hunter."

Surprise spread across Kahlan's features. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"He must have been there; you would have searched thoroughly."

"We saw no one else, Samus. If there was another, it was your responsibility to tell us. Why didn't you?"

"If he had died in the crash, it was better that nobody else knew of him. But…being killed by the Federation is a different matter."

"Samus, nobody else was in the vicinity. There haven't even been Federation police stationed on Cylosis until a day ago. And we certainly did not do anything with him."

_Paranoia may be getting the better of me..._ Samus sighed inwardly. "_May?_" repeated Dark Samus with a sneer in her voice.

"Just tell me, then…" Samus said aloud. "Why are you helping me?"

Kahlan stood up and walked, silent as a specter, to the windows behind her desk. "I have my reasons. All I ask is that you do one thing before you decide if you trust me or not."

Samus thought for a moment. _I suppose if they were Federation allies, they would have just killed me on sight…_ "What task?"

"There is someone I would like you to visit."

* * *

In the shadows of the vast factories of Cylosis lay countless alleys and rows upon rows uniform, single-story dwellings. These narrow streets bustled with activity. Countless merchants vied for the attention of passers-by, the great throng of which held a multitude of specie of beings from across the galaxy. As with the underbelly of any developed planet, there was a thriving black market and strength was the only law around.

Samus looked warily out from under the low hood of her travelling cloak, alert for the presence of any Federation patrols or citizens' inquisitive gazes. The crowd provided good camouflage, but Samus knew that if anyone got a good look at her face she would soon find herself staring down the barrel of a Federation rifle.

Samus understood that with her suit on she would have no hope of moving around undetected, but she wished she had it on all the same. She couldn't remember the last time she had gone without it in the presence of others, and she felt far too exposed despite the cloak.

Kahlan hadn't told her the identity of the _someone_ she wanted Samus to see, only where to look, and Samus wondered just who it was who could convince her of Kahlan's trustworthiness. Ever since the _Shadow_, she had been constantly watching her back—and not just around Sylux. The other Hunters, Jonathan, and now Kahlan—she didn't see how she could possibly bring herself to trust them.

As she walked, she noticed the crows beginning to thin, until at last she turned a corner and found the street deserted. This was the darkest part of the city she had yet come to. While patches of sky had dotted the network of walkways, tracks, and other metal constructs that had loomed above the other streets, the mass of pipes now over Samus's head was unbroken. Very little light made it down to the narrow alleys that she walked down, now nearing her destination.

She stopped facing what might have been a block of housing like every other, and knelt down. At ground level on the wall of an abandoned dwelling was a small opening that at first glance seemed too small to fit through. But when viewed from a different angle, it was apparent that with a bit of maneuvering one could slip into the gap. Samus put her legs through the opening, then slowly eased the rest of her body forward. Lifting her arms above over her head, she passed through the tiny portal and into the darkness below.

After a fall of about a meter, she landed on a cold, wet surface. She crouched there for several minutes, waiting silently for her vision to adjust. Then, she cautiously set out forward. From the bare hint of light that shone from the opening, she was able to see that she was in a wide tunnel with a ceiling not far above her head. The walls she used to ascertain her direction were slick with moisture, and Samus surmised that the passage was likely part of a long-outdated sewage system that doubtless was still connected to a centuries-old reservoir—hence, the water.

But dilated as her eyes were, a ways into the tunnel she found herself shut off entirely from the daylight. With not so much as the faintest glow present, Samus knew that even an advanced night-vision system could not display the surroundings. Feeling her way forward with the wall as a guide, Samus came to a bend that, from what Kahlan had said, she knew to in reality be a fork in the tunnel. Anyone who passed through the tunnel without prior knowledge of the route would either be forced to reveal their presence with lighting or become hopelessly lost.

The darkness was suffocating, especially when Samus had to remove her hand from the tunnel's side to choose a different path at the occasional junction, but she did allow herself to be cowed. She closed her eyes, blocking her mind's desperate need for sight. She allowed her other sense to guide her, letting the tunnel wall take her where it wished and listening to the echoes of her own footsteps.

After a last series of turns, Samus opened her eyes and found the tunnel lit by the softest orange glow. Before long, she came to a door set in the tunnel's sloping wall. A solitary candle flickered in an alcove beside it. Samus pushed and the door opened easily, and she entered.

The chamber beyond was a vast hall, hued in gray but magnificent nonetheless. Ornate columns ran up the walls and from the center of the hall to a curved ceiling. Large windows of intricate design were set high in the walls, though nothing but slabs of stone lay beyond them. It was empty now, with not a hint as to its original purpose. Samus was surprised that such a room was buried in the depths of Cylosis. An ancient sewer system was one thing, but the chamber she had stepped into was truly a room lost in time, far older than any of the ruins Samus had come across during her mission on other worlds.

"Samus?"

Samus whirled to face the source of the very familiar voice. Walking from behind one of the dusty columns was a man dressed in a cloak that might have been the twin of Samus's own. The hood of the garment was down, and in the half-light Samus could see his pale, drawn face. There was steel in his eyes and a measure of resolve still in his bearing that offset his haggard look.

"Adam," breathed Samus.

* * *

The Federation trooper stood at attention, saluting stiffly then stepping aside to allow the man entry. This man walked with a confident stride, wasting no movement. A cap bearing the insignia of the Galactic Federation Marine Corps rested atop his head, and a ceremonial sword hung from his belt. His face had a hard look to it, speaking of a will no easily broken. He stopped and stood before the wall of monitors, nodding sharply to Samus. "I am Lieutenant Adam Malkovich, and I will be your commanding officer for this mission. I don't expect you'll see much of me, as this is of course a solo mission during which you will not be reporting to the Federation. It is likely that any communication of yours will be disregarded. In fact, this ship will not remain in orbit. You will receive your payment for the mission in the form of credits sent directly to your account. Any questions, Lady?"

His bluntness surprised Samus; it was rare for those she met for the first time o give such direct orders. Given her reputation, even the high-ranking Federation officials made every effort to be polite at their initial meeting, particularly when she was armored—as she was now. This man, however, was treating her like a soldier. Samus shook her helmeted head, thinking perhaps she had finally met a GF officer with a spine.

"Good," said Adam, nodding again. "Get moving."

* * *

"Good to see you're still alive." Adam looked tired and worn, but he still stood bolt upright.

"And you," replied Samus, still astounded. "How did you escape?"

"I was at the base on Siber, six days ago," recounted Adam, sitting on one of the steps of the ancient staircase that divided the hall into high and low halves. "It was then that one of the squads assigned to the fleet admirals came to me. The captain told me that I was to be arrested and possibly executed on false treason charges, and that the admiral they were assigned to wanted to help. They smuggled me out just as Marines with orders to capture me arrived at the base. I hid in an old shelter for two days."

"Who was the admiral?"

"Unfortunately, I never found out, since he remains part of the Federation. But it would be easy to use the computer systems at the Siber base to check, since I know the members of his squad."

"So that's what Kahlan had in mind...putting us in touch with an ally inside the Federation." Samus frowned. "How did you come to trust her? She seemed to think you could convince me."

"On the third day, she came to the shelter. She explained who she was and told me she wanted to render assistance. After that, several other MRX researchers flew me here, to Cylosis, in a ship with the ability to shield itself from the base's sensors. They opened a link to you somehow, and that was when I warned you. I don't know where Kahlan was during that time, but the following day I spoke to her via the same communication systems I used to contact you. She said the Federation suspected I was on Cylosis, and told me to come here. The MRX staff gave me provisions, and I have been here since then."

Samus thought for a moment. "I still can't fully trust her...however..." she said slowly. ""All right—I'll go to Siber. I assume you'll be coming as well."

Adam smiled. "Absolutely, Lady."

* * *

They navigated the inky blackness of the tunnels, through which Adam guided Samus far faster than she had done herself. "I've spent a good deal of time learning the layout," he explained, his voice reverberating endlessly despite its low volume. "Particularly, I'm familiar with the fastest exit routes." They reached the opening to the streets above, the first several of which remained deserted. Raising their hoods, they set out for MRX Labs.

Inside the building, they were met by a man with a slightly nervous look who led them to a lift. Inside, he set the destination and the elevator began to rise. Once out of the lift, the man walked with almost excruciating slowness, and Samus got the distinct impression that they were being delayed. Adam apparently shared this sentiment, as after a minute of their slow crawl, he stepped around then man and strode at a much faster pace. Samus followed suit, and soon they reached Kahlan's office.

Approaching the door, they heard snippets of a hasty conversation. Kahlan was speaking with someone in an urgent tone. Adam opened the door, and they entered. Inside were Kahlan and another woman in a lab coat.

Kahlan's right arm was set in a cast like the one Samus had worn, albeit one that covered the entire limb, and the arm was held in a sling. Her left wrist was similarly dressed. She was dressed in her white coat and a shirt open to reveal bandages wrapped around her entire upper torso, some of which were slightly bloodied. There were also bruises on her limbs, midsection, and face—some faint, some not—and a partially healed slash across her left cheek. Kahlan half-rose as Samus and Adam entered, then sat back with wince, hand to her ribs. "Hello, Samus...and Adam..."

"A pleasure to meet you again," said Adam. "Although it seems the circumstances could be better."

"What happened?" Samus looked around; the office was undisturbed."

"An unfortunate accident on the job," replied Kahlan, rising much more slowly than she had just attempted to. "Nothing I won't recover from."

The other researcher inclined her head to Adam and Samus, then addressed Kahlan as she left the room. "You know not to move too much."

"I'm sorry," Samus scrutinized Kahlan, but as before could discern nothing from her expression. _Is she telling the truth?_

"What's the matter?" mocked Dark Samus. "A few bruises and you get suspicious? What a way to thank the one who saved your life."

Samus ignored her. "I've decided...I trust you. I will go to Siber."

"I will accompany her," said Adam.

"Very well," said Kahlan, buttoning her shirt and limping towards the door with hand o her desk for support. "Come with me, Samus."

* * *

Kahlan led Samus to a section of the facility where Samus had never ventured, while Adam was elsewhere selecting the weapons and tools he would take with him. A state-of-the-art security door restricted access, and hundreds of electronic eyes watched their every move, but the area was different and from the rest of MRX—metal plates and gratings covered the walls, cables snaked in and out of conduits all around them, and there was not a networked computer in sight. "This is the 7th research division," Kahlan told Samus. "It's separate from the rest of the building, physically and digitally, so nothing of what goes on here is leaked to the outside world." Eventually, they came to a darkened room, the door of which bore the words 'LIVING BODY ARMS DEVELOPMET LAB.' Kahlan stood before the door, and a scanner in the wall swept a green line up and down her bandaged form. A light winked on and the door opened.

As Samus made to follow Kahlan, she held up a hand. "Wait." She turned and disappeared into the chamber, which was lit only by a dim glow of green. Kahlan reemerged minutes later, followed by a tall, roughly cylindrical storage container carried by a ceiling-mounted robotic arm. The arm set the unit down and retracted into the darkness.

Kahlan quickly entered a code into a keypad on the container's side, and the front metal cover slid aside with a hiss. Inside, suspended in a tube of slightly luminous green liquid, was Samus's Varia Suit. Kahlan turned back to face her. "As good as new, or better. And don't worry, this won't cost you a thing."

As she was opening her mouth to thank Kahlan, it suddenly struck Samus how long it had been, if it had ever happened at all, since anyone had _given_ something to her—purely to give, not expecting anything in return. Upgrades or weapons? Tools for the mission. A new gunship? A means of getting to the next contracted location. Money? An owed debt. Kahlan must have known Samus could have infiltrated the Siber base without the armor, but Samus got the feeling the woman recognized her desire to once again don the familiar suit. An enormous spring of gratitude to Kahlan—for the suit, her treatment and Jonathan's, and the opportunity to meet with Adam—welled up inside Samus, as well as shame for having distrusted her. She found herself quit unaccustomed to the weight of the emotions, and did not speak for a moment. Finally, she found her voice. "Thank you, Kahlan...for everything. It...it means a lot to me" She was shocked at how unsure of herself she sounded. _Stars, am I this awkward at dealing with emotion?!_

Kahlan smiled, shrugging slightly. "You're very welcome, Samus...To tell the truth, I'm glad I can help you. Bounty hunting makes for a lonely life. I'm happy to see you aren't alone—I'm sure there are times when having friends somewhere in the galaxy helps, even if you never thought it would."

A chill ran up Samus's spine. Kahlan had perfectly described what bounty hunting—and its ensuing lack of personal contact—felt like to her. _It's almost as if she_...

"You humans and your _feelings_," said Dark Samus. For once, she had no mocking tone of touch of sarcasm in her voice. "I don't think I'll ever understand you...Not that I would want to," she added hurriedly.

At the touch of a button, the fluid began to drain from the tube through an unseen pipe. The glass split into sections and retracted horizontally, as the outer shell had done. "Go on, Samus..." said Kahlan, gesturing. "It's yours."

* * *

Samus stopped to see Jonathan before heading for the ship that would take her and Adam to Siber. He was remarkably upbeat about his inability to join them—the splints had one more day's work to do to completely repair his legs. "I probably won't be here when you get back," he told her. "I'm out of here first chance I get...I'll head to Typh III. It's like my second homeworld, and the GF won't be anywhere near."

Samus had nodded and said her good-bye, then turned to leave. She had almost gone out the door when Jonathan had called after her, "Good luck, Samus, and watch out for brain-sucking parasites!"

* * *

Kahlan watched the ship lift off, a small smile playing about her lips as through the cabin window she glimpsed Samus's fully armored form briefly silhouetted against the setting sun. "As we have met before, we will meet again, Samus Aran..."

* * *

"You shouldn't have to do any fighting so long as you're reasonably stealthy." The pilot of their ship had introduced himself as Talas. "The HQ's computers are underground, so they'll be guarding the lower entrances. We'll be dropping you off on the roof of the central tower." He poked the space occupied by a revolving three-dimensional projection of the base, indicating the tallest of the three towers. "See, we can't have anyone spotting us out the window."

They were on Siber now; the small but advanced transport ship's warp engines having been more than up to the task. On the way down to the rocky, barren surface of the planet, a stealth field had allowed them to slip through the Federation's network of sensors, checkpoints, and aerial energy shields. The base itself lay sprawled below them, as they sat on a ridge no doubt armed with its own defense array that the sophisticated MRX technology was defeating.

Talas went on. "We'll fly you down and open up a nice hole in the ceiling for you to slip through. After that, it's up to you. Two floors from the roof are lift shafts that would take you all the way to the basement." He grinned. "'Course, you can't use the lifts. I may have forgot to mention we'll be knocking out the power, so you'll have to crack open the doors and head down under your own power. Provided you close the doors before you take the plunge, they won't detect you."

"Can't you restore the power to the lifts only?" asked Adam.

"Lifts are monitored," said Talas. "Even if you hacked one and got it to come to your floor without authorization, there are mechanical sensors inside that can tell if you belong there or not. So, power's gotta go, unless you want to go in wearing federation armor."

"I see."

"Once you're underground, it'll be a piece of cake. Finding the mainframe computer will be easy, and then all you have to do is get through some of the best digital security in the galaxy."

"You won't knock out the mainframe's backup power source?"

Talas shook his head. "Well now…" He began piloting the ship toward the ridge's edge. "I _could_ take us down there under engine power…" The drop point grew closer and closer. "But…" The ridge ended. Samus had a split second to anchor herself to an overhead rail.

The ship plummeted off the edge, fins keeping it nose-down as the Federation base rose to meet them. Samus was reminded unpleasantly of the _Delano_'s crash, but of course she could no more have stopped Talas than she could have stopped the wind. His face was lit with pure exhilaration as the central tower seemed to become a needle ready to impale them. The howl of the air around them was overpowering; the shaking immense. Impact in three, two, one.

The ship couldn't have actually halted instantaneously, but it felt like it had. With a perfectly calculated burst of the thrusters, Talas had brought them to a near-standstill in an instant. He set the craft down gently and sighed contentedly. "I could do that all day…"

Adam gingerly detached his tightly clenched fist from the rail he too had grasped. Samus's armored hand had fared slightly better, though it still smarted. The three other crew members looked unfazed; clearly Talas often pulled such stunts. They all exited, save Talas, and the technicians set to work immediately. After a computerized scan of the floor directly below, two began using laser cutters to carve a sizable square from the thick roofing alloy. A third knelt ready beside them. As soon as the section gave way, he plunged his hands into the hole and caught it. He drew it out, hands on opposite sides, and tossed it unceremoniously away. "We'll patch that up so you won't see a thing from either side," he said. "You'd better get moving, since you're pretty much cooked if they get the power back online."

Adam slipped easily through the hole, Samus right behind him. As soon as they'd landed, Adam turned to Samus and muttered "He didn't say how to get to the floor below."

"Stairs, if you can believe it," said a voice in Samus's ear. It was Talas. "Uh, yeah, I meant to tell you I'd be communicating."

Samus resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Where?"

"Not ten meters away, around that corner."

Samus pointed, and she and Adam walked down the hallway. Just around the corner, as Talas had said, was a set of metal stairs that led down just one floor. They descended. Samus was about to step onto the next level's landing when Talas hissed "Wait! There are still Marines on this floor!" Samus stopped, stepping back as quietly as she could. They could hear the Federation troopers talking in raised voices about the power cut, which Talas had apparently managed to do during the dive. A minute later, their voices faded. "Okay," said Talas. "Go to the lifts."

Reaching the first in a row of lift doors, Samus jammed her cannon against the door near the frame and braced herself against it. A small crack appeared, and Adam wrapped his fingers around the door's edge. Samus lent her free hand, and together they wrenched the door open. Beyond lay the shaft, a vast, wide space lit solely by the gap they had just opened. An enclosed, cylindrical lift pod was located below and to their right, the others scattered further down, some too far into the shadows to see. Keeping her left arm locked against the door, Samus moved into the shaft. The sound of hundreds of footsteps echoed hollowly up from the levels beneath as she cautiously slid towards the pod, leaving the door to Adam. As soon as she made the short jump to the top of the lift, he too stepped out, letting the door slide shut. He leapt to join Samus.

Talas's voice came again. "All right...now slide down. Easy as pie." The irony of his tone was unmistakable."

Adam nodded to Samus. "I trust you'll break my fall."

Samus worked her way to the underside of the lift and wrapped her arm around the pole that disappeared into the unfathomable darkness below. With not a moment of hesitation, she slackened her hold the slightest and began to hurtle down the shaft. The velocity blurred everything as it grew greater; not that there was much to see. She was dimly aware of Talas telling her how many floors she was from the bottom, but the constant acceleration was not helping her clarity of thought, and she only registered his actual words when he barked "Samus! Now!"

She steeled herself and clenched hard on the pole. She slowed considerably, but the impact was still tremendous. She actually felt her suit flex in and out in an attempt to redirect the shock, the leg armor most of all. A deep, vibrating sound like a cannon blast bounced throughout the shaft. Samus listened to it slowly fading as she waited.

Perhaps half a minute later—had the fall really taken that long, she wondered—she heard the sound of Adam's approach. The moment he came into view, she moved into position beneath him, legs apart, center of gravity low. She could not catch him, but she could lessen the force of the inevitable impact. As Adam reached her level, Samus turned and bent forward. Adam collided with her back, and she pushed sideways, redirecting his momentum. He landed heavily, but rose without delay.

"Thank you, Samus." Adam walked to the nearest door and began to tug at one side. Samus joined him, and soon they were on the other side. Here was a corridor that led to a veritable maze of hallways, caches, and computer rooms. Talas guided them through until they came to a gate with an active terminal beside it. "This is it," said Adam, approaching the computer. "It still has power."

Samus set her Scan Visor's sights on the terminal. It didn't take long for her superior system to bypass the security protocols. The gate opened, and they entered the room.

"No AU here, thankfully," said Talas. "The one they used to have here, it was a big one too, was commissioned for some ultra-secret operation. Hack away…if your low-tech Scan whatever is up to it."

Samus groaned inwardly. Just what they needed, a flyboy technician. She approached the central computer, a group of imposing black, monolithic servers with a projected screen floating before them. The screen flickered as she began to attempt to access the mainframe, and an alarm signal was sent ineffectually to the inactive defense systems of the base. Samus worked in silence until Talas spoke again. "Hey, I hate to rain on our collective parade, but the troopers have finished organizing patrols, and they'll get down there eventually. Oh, and up on the roof, of course."

With a beep, Samus's Visor finished the job. The screen now displayed lists of categorized information about the base. "I'll do it," said Adam. After performing a search for _Operation Aurora_ which returned no results, Samus allowed him to step forward and begin navigating through the system.

"I wasn't kidding, you know. They really are going to come down there soon, and then you'll be dead m—"

Adam sighed heavily, closing his eyes. Talas was silent for a moment. Then: "Sorry. Carry on."

At length, Adam found the information. With two more touches, the list of the squad members sprang forth from the digital recesses of the base computer. He tapped an icon, and the list scrolled. There was the name emblazoned in bold: Admiral Castor Dane.

* * *

Kahlan opened her eyes and sat up. With a whirr, the complex machine behind her shut down and folded its many arms in. She unwrapped the bandages under her shirt and slid the splint from her arm. She flexed the unblemished limb experimentally, and felt her ribcage with a practiced hand. Satisfied nothing remained broken or torn, she stood from the cold table.

"Well?" The researcher who had been present when Samus and Adam had arrived entered the room. "Are you finally healed?"

Kahlan nodded. "It nearly was the end of me, after all…"

"You should have used more," accused the researcher.

"Absolutely not." Kahlan strode to the door. "I'm less important, now." She turned back. "We have work to do."

* * *

Samus and Adam were back aboard the MRX craft. Talas piloted them away, once again slipping through the detection field with ease. "Admiral Dane…" said Adam as they soared away from Siber, preparing for a hyperspace jump. "I've had little contact with him. He retired from the position of active Fleet Admiral nearly three years ago, though I believe he still holds the rank."

"Next stop," yelled Talas over his shoulder. "The home of Dane's headquarters…Menarch I!" In an instant, they had arrived. Forest covered much of the planet's surface, spread of mountainous terrain, with one large sea just visible over the curve of the world.

Talas's fingers flew over his instrument panel as they descended. "That's odd…their defense systems are offline…turrets, shields, sensors…" Then his eyes widened. "No!"

He wrenched the controls to one side as a plasma shell came hurtling at their ship. The projectile missed the hull by a hair's breadth, but a split second layer there was a lot more to worry about. A whole salvo of bursts lit up the sky around them, forcing Talas to weave through a live minefield of missiles as they neared the ground.

"Obviously not deactivated!" shouted one of the other ship technicians over the roar of the bombardment.

"It isn't Dane's base," Talas yelled back. "It's someone else, from one of those tree-covered mountains!"

An agile, pod-shaped fighter craft with a tail-like stabilizer swooped down from behind them and opened fire.

The same technician swore loudly as he strode to the weapons console, apparently unaffected by the violent shaking of the ship. "Are you even watching the scanners?!"

"_I'm kind of busy!_" exploded Talas, practically screaming. "Notice the rockets?!"

"Space Pirates!" exclaimed another, looking out a viewport at the fighter. "Here?"

The man who'd been berating Talas couldn't answer, as he was busy unleashing a well-placed flurry of machinegun-like energy pulses on the unfortunate Pirate vessel, but the third pointed lower, to the forests where the assault seemed to be based. "Look, they're fighting the Feds." He sounded remarkably calm, given the circumstances. "They must think we're GF."

Indeed, among the trees of the vast forest were countless Space Pirates engaged with an army of Federation troopers. Samus watched the cinematic, guerilla-style battle unfold for a moment but was distracted as the burning hulk of the Pirate fighter dropped past her viewport like a meteor. The MRX gunner let out a whoop. "See you, you sorry sons of Grenchlers!"

As the troopers below advanced on the Space Pirates' position, the anti-air firing ceased as the Pirates retreated deeper into the forest, leaving Talas free to steer them down towards the Federation compound. It had a large perimeter and was low to the ground but for one tower, the spire of which matched the mountaintops and disappeared into the clouds.

Talas tapped an icon that had begun to glow on the main screen, and the image of a Federation in a jet-black suit appeared. "_Greetings to Samus Aran_," said the prerecorded transmission. "_As at the moment the main force is occupied, it is a good opportunity for you to meet with the Admiral. No others will be admitted. Greetings to Samus…_"

"This is it," said Talas as they touched down, switching off the transmission. "Looks like you're on your own."

"Best of luck, Lady," said Adam, giving a rare smile.

Samus nodded and stepped out of the hatch. The massive gates before her began to open immediately. The gap was just wide enough to allow her entrance, and the gates sealed with a clang behind her as she approached the security doors. These parted to give her access as well. Inside was a single trooper, also clad in red-and-black armor. Wordlessly, he pointed to a lift at the end of the corridor ahead, the doors of which were open. Samus walked to it and entered.

Silently, the doors shut and the lift began to rise. Samus knew she was going up the central shaft of the tower. The lift did not slow until it reached what Samus was sure was the very highest level of the complex. Then, the doors opened once more.

A curved wall of windows like plate glass was stretched before her, providing her with a magnificent view of the surrounding peaks. Samus looked around and saw no sign of Dane nor of anyone else. Then she heard a voice from behind her, no, from around the lift. "I'm here, Samus." The room was circular; the lift was in the center. Samus walked with the curve of the wall, to the other side of the lift. There beheld Castor Dane, standing straight as a ramrod behind his desk. The wall was inset with what appeared to be a cylindrical container or storage tank. Dane wore his usual officer's light armor. He gave a flawless military salute. "It's been a long time Samus…It's good to see you."

"Admiral." Samus was unsure of how to respond. So they were on the same side; now what?

"You must have had a pretty hard time of things." Dane smiled. "I have to say, it sure it impressive that you've managed to survive. Now that you're here, there's something I need to get out of the way…Operation Aurora."

"Do you know what it is?" asked Samus immediately.

Dane's smile faded. "Also impressive that you know that name, though not entirely unexpected."

"The AU on Vho stopped us from reading the file."

"I was worried about how much you might have found out on Vho. You really got that far, eh?"

Samus paused. "'Worried?'" _Something's not right…_

Dane nodded. "Had you read that file, you wouldn't be sitting here now."

An uncertain feeling was growing in Samus's thoughts. "Why?"

"As I said, what you've done so far has been impressive, but not unexpected," continued Dane, ignoring her. "I've been anticipating where you would go, who you would meet."

Samus felt a solitary bead of sweat on her neck. "You mean to get me to meet with you?"

"That's correct, Samus. You see, it didn't very much surprise me that you escaped from the _Shadow_. Admiral Singer was a fool to think such a trap could ensnare you.

"Samus you're here because my plan worked perfectly. The Federation couldn't possibly have caught you. All I had to do was get my name to you. But not just anyone could convince you, of course…"

"What…what do you mean?"

"I knew only someone you trust completely could get you to come here. So, I decided to do Adam Malkovich a favor. The Marines were going to arrest him, so I thought a little intervention would earn his trust."

"I know all this," said Samus. "Why are—"

"Samus, I've flawlessly orchestrated everything that has happened to you since the _Shadow_, excepting your near discovery of Operation Aurora and the fact that I still don't know what planet you met Malkovich on. We couldn't track you down, so I had to bring you directly to me…I doubt anyone else could finally do it."

The floor was spinning, the ceiling was closing in, and Samus understood but didn't understand; didn't want to know but had to know. "Do…what?"

Dane folded his arms behind his back. "Kill you, Samus."

Samus stumbled backward, feeling the words like a hammer blow to her gut. She raised her arm cannon and aimed at the Admiral. Shock obliterated all thought.

Dane's lips curled into a confident smile. "You can't win, Samus; it's over. He had no idea, but from the moment Malkovich told you about me, your fate was sealed." He turned and walked to the container mounted on the wall. "It was inevitable, Samus," he said without turning, one hand on the metal cylinder. "All those years, I knew you'd come to be a wrench in out works. Clearly you won't join us, so I'll spare you the final offer."

A red glow flared to life around Dane. Slowly, the light encircled his tall frame, forming a translucent shell in the shape of his body. A wireframe of lines spread across the shell, and with a strong pulse, solidified into armor of shimmering black alloy. Scarlet lines ran along the suit's contours to a gemlike orb inset in the breastplate. The shoulders of this armor tapered to pyramidal spikes, and similar pieces protruded vertically from the knees. The gloves were of lightweight material, but vicious finger-mounted blades made claws of the hands. Each palm bore a small, circular node. The helm was topped with three small points and one larger spike, giving it the appearance of a crow, and the visor glowed an iridescent, ruby red.

Dane turned to Samus, the imposing armor shaking as he laughed. "How fitting it is that something you gave to us should be your destruction. You are about to witness to power of the greatest weapon ever created…the Omega Suit."

He raised one hand. Samus immediately fired four blasts at him. The beams hit the chest and helmet of the suit, and vanished as if absorbed by the inky metal, leaving not a scratch. Then, from Dane's palm leapt a beam of mottled white light that burned away the very air around it. The light impacted the floor before Samus's feet and erupted into a great burst of pure energy. The fist of the shockwave slammed into Samus, sending her hurtling through the air. She landed heavily on her back and skidded to a stop.

As Samus struggled to her feet, Dane advanced, his palm sparking. He lunged forward, driving his elbow into the small of Samus's back and knocked her flat to the floor. "Why bother?" He kicked out, striking Samus in the side. She slid painfully into the side of the lift's shaft. "You have no allies." He held her arm in a vice-like grip, crumpling her cannon like foil. "The Hunters? Dead, or they've run far away." A crushing blow to the stomach. "Malkovich? I'll kill him myself." Dane had her pinned against the shaft now. He cracked her visor with a hard slap, then grabbed the entire helmet and wrenched it from the body of her Varia Suit.

Samus ducked as Dane thrust his hand squarely at her face, breaking free of his hold. Before she could attack, Dane laced his hands together and swung at her. He sight flashed vibrant red as the blow connected with the side of her head. He was on her in an instant, grabbing her by one arm. He fired a short burst from one palm, shattering the windows with one sweep. He flung Samus away. She tumbled to a halt just short of a long fall and certain death.

Dane walked over slowly, his visor retracting. A look of cold loathing twisted his lined face as he stood over Samus. He placed his armored foot with cruel precision upon her throat. "So ends the legendary Hunter…"

"You know," Samus forced through her constricted windpipe. "I'm a woman. I prefer _Huntress_."

With all her strength, she punched Dane in the face. He recoiled with a roar. It was a last act of defiance; Samus could feel the strength fading from her beaten body. Her story _had_ come to an end, after all. As Dane held his palm over her, his face livid, blood trickling from the spot where her fist had impacted, Samus's vision blackened. Then, suddenly, she felt a slender arm around her chest, pulling her backward. But she was not falling, somehow she was drifting away, hearing Dane's howl of fury as that all-too-familiar darkness beckoned…

* * *

Samus floated among dreams, memories, and reflections of the present. How often did this have to happen? Weakness had no place in Samus's heart, but recently she'd been pushed to the limit. In a world with no one to trust, every invitation was a trap, every innocent action an attack. Adam and Kahlan seemed so small compared to a galaxy set against her and against them, too. This was too much strain to bear, even for Samus. Perhaps she should remain in the darkness this time. Never to wake, never to open her eyes and find the playful little Metroid hovering there…

She had lost nearly everything, right down to that infant creature to whom she'd been a mother. Her suit, a gift from the Chozo who had raised her, was destroyed again, ruined like the civilization of its makers. Her family has gone, and her Chozo guardians after them as well. And yet…

What did thinking like this do? Nothing but close the mind to any hope of victory. Would she repay her family's sacrifice and the Chozo scientists' generosity by losing hope, rolling over, and dying? Samus Aran, the Huntress, would not give up as long as breath was in her body. The last survivor of K-2L would never dishonor the memory of her homeworld with such a shameful surrender.

Samus sat up. She was in a forest clearing. Starlight shone through gaps in the leaves and branches, and the wind whispered softly over the trickling water of a stream. Samus turned and saw a woman standing beside her. She wore a bodysuit identical to Samus's but for its midnight hue. Samus might have thought she was looking at herself, but the tresses that flowed down the woman's back were black as a moonless night, and her skin a shade paler than Samus's own.

Dark Samus regarded Samus expressionlessly, her arms neutrally by her sides. "I carried you down."

Samus looked amazedly at her. "You're…_human._"

"Obviously not, but I could pass for one," Dark Samus chuckled. "Malkovich and the others escaped; they're on their way."

"Thank you," said Samus slowly, still entranced by the pale specter of herself, "for saving my life."

"I don't understand this," said Dark Samus, her expression abruptly hardening. "Getting you away from Dane is one thing, but I could have killed you any time when you were unconscious. I _should_ have…"

"Maybe—" began Samus.

Dark Samus lunged for Samus's throat. Samus braced herself, but Dark Samus's hand never reached her neck. She had halted herself just before reaching her target. "You look like me now," she said, laughing shakily. "Or, I look like you…" She slowly traced the outline of Samus's jaw with one finger. "It's unbelievable, but somehow I've grown fond of you…Oh, get that soppy look off your face, I'm not in love with you," she snapped, withdrawing her hand. Samus smiled. "No…I don't want to kill you."

Samus was silent for a moment, letting the soft rushing of the creek fill the night air. "What will you do now? Come with me?"

Dark Samus shook her head. "No. Even if I like you now, there's a history between us. I don't think we'll ever see each other again…"

"All right." Samus sighed. "I won't ask where you're going, then. But I wish you luck…Stars watch over you."

"What's _that?_" laughed Dark Samus. "How would you of all people—"

"It was a tradition on my planet to wish luck that way," interrupted Samus. "Before everyone on it—"

"I'm sorry." Dark Samus touched a finger to her lips. "Stars watch over you too, Samus…"

* * *

"Dane, a traitor as well…" said Adam as they left Menarch I behind them. "Samus, you must understand…I didn't know."

"Don't worry," said Samus, gazing listlessly down at the planet and wondering if Dark Samus would stay there. It almost felt empty with no comments coming from inside her head. "I believe you."

"Yes…" Adam scrutinized her. "The woman who was with you…who was she?"

"A friend." Samus turned and looked frankly back at him.

Adam paused for a moment, then nodded. "If that's where you want to leave it, I can accept that." And they disappeared among the stars, course set for Cylosis once more.


End file.
